Endure

F O U R

After the game ended, Alice and I headed to the front to meet up with Katie.

"What's the line for?" I asked Alice, eyeing the long line of fans that seemed to wrap all around the arena.

"Meet and greet! There's one after every game. Can you believe how many people want to meet my boyfriend?? They love him!!" she gushed, extending her hand toward the crowd.

I giggled with her as we walked past the players sitting behind the tables, signing autographs.

"Maddie!!" Katie rushed up to me, along with a few friends, all clutching a jersey in their arms.

"There you are!" I exclaimed. "Ready to go--"

"Can we go get autographs?" she pleaded. "All of our favorite players are here!! Please, please please??"

"I guess--"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!" She pulled me into a tight hug before rushing toward the line with her friends following her. "We are not leaving until every player has signed our jerseys!!"

Alice and I looked at each other and laughed, shaking our heads. We continued walking past the line of fans eagerly waiting to meet the players, who sat behind the tables, signing autographs and taking photos.

We finally reached Ben, who was signing jerseys with the flattest look on his face, making us laugh even more.

"I only smile for the kids," he muttered as he handed a signed jersey to an older man. Ben's cheeks were red and flushed from the game he just played, and his brown hair damp from the shower. He looked up at Alice and me, and his face lit up. "Maddie, you're here!"

"I'm here too," a sleepy voice spoke up.

Alice and I turned to see the extremely tall player from before sitting next to Ben. We stepped away from the line as it kept moving, yet stayed close to the tables.

The tall player gave Ben a proud smile, displaying his missing tooth. Fresh, new cuts and scars littered his face.

"Yes, Big Rich, you're here too." Ben nodded, sliding a jersey over to him.

"Here you go." The tall player held out the jersey to me.

"Oh, thank you." I stepped up to take the autographed jersey before glancing at Alice.

"Did you see me fight?" The tall player asked with excitement. "I won!!"

"You also got seventeen penalty minutes," Ben mumbled as he uncapped a marker and signed a hat.

"But I won. And we won the game!!"

"Wowww!!!" a familiar tiny voice exclaimed.

I looked up to see Jenny a few feet away by the autograph tables. Bennie and Brandon stood next to her, holding an oversized autographed jersey as Jade took their photo.

"Here, little buddy. This is for you!!" an even more familiar voice called out.

I could feel both Alice's and Ben's stares on me as I glanced over to see Tom holding out a signed hat to Bennie.

I turned back to the tall player. "Did you ever get a chocolate chip cookie?"

"I wanted a chocolate chip muffin actually," he corrected with a shrug before shaking his head. "But, no. The bakery is not open yet. I really want one though."

"Oh--"

"It'll be open soon," a deep, familiar voice said behind me.

My stomach flipped. I turned around to see Daniel standing not too far away, and the jersey nearly fell out of my hands.